Gaming laptops have steadily become powerful and expensive to even compete with the best gaming desktops, but few like the Asus TUF F17 FX707ZC-ES52 offer a unique wallet-friendly option. The Gaming TUF boasts a spacious 17.3-inch display with a 144Hz refresh rate, an entry-level CPU and GPU, and 8GB RAM for a comfortable 1080p gaming experience. Well, it’s not the most powerful TUF around, but it caters well to gamers looking for something worthwhile in the sub-$1000 category.
With a big screen and a somewhat short battery, the Asus TUF Gaming F17 inclines more to be a desktop than a laptop as the 17.3-inch screen is a little wieldy to tuck inside a small bag. The heavy chassis and big screen limit its portability, but there are still portable TUFs with 15.6-inch screens, and at this price, you have to make a few concessions somewhere. Beyond design and portability, the FX707ZC-ES52 is terrific value for enthusiast gamers on a tight budget.
Asus TUF Gaming F17 Specs
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12500H
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
- RAM: 8GB DDR4
- Screen: 17.3-inch 1080p IPS, 144Hz
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.2
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Weight: 5.7lbs (2.6kg)
- Size: 15.55 x 0.9 x 10.39 inches
Design and Features
The Asus TUF Gaming F17 has an all-familiar design that we’ve seen on other TUFs – a dark grey exterior without bling on the body. This is an intentional approach from Asus, meant to create a laptop that blends into any professional or casual environment, and it succeeds. Some of Asus’ gaming laptops like the Asus TUF Gaming A15 scream ‘gamer’ from a distance, but with the TUF Gaming F17, everything is muted to a simple enclosure with a TUF shield at the center.
Measuring 15.55 x 0.9 x 10.39 inches and weighing 5.7 pounds, the FX707ZC-ES52 is heavier and bigger than most 15-inch gaming laptops, but it’s on the lighter side of 17-inch gaming laptops. Compared: the Acer Nitro 17 measures 15.76 x 1.1 x 11.55 inches and weighs 6.6 pounds, while the MSI Katana GF76 measures 15.67 x 10.75 x 0.99 inches and weighs 5.07 pounds.
Display and Ports
The screen on the TUF Gaming F17 spans 17.3 inches and offers a 144Hz refresh rate with a 1920 x 1080 resolution. From the moment you switch it on, images look fantastic; videos, pictures, and games all shine. However, viewing the screen from the wrong side will quickly mute the vibrant colors with earthy tones. It covers 45% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and fires up to 284 nits of brightness.
When you lift the lid open, there’s a notch on the top bezel that houses the 720p webcam, which was missing in its predecessor from last year. The left side of the laptop holds a power adaptor, an Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.0 port, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, a 3.5mm jack, one USB 3.2 Type-C, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. On the right side, there’s only a single USB 3.2 Type-A port.
Keyboard and Touchpad
With the large chassis footprint, you have enough room for a full-size keyboard that looks sleek and the keys are responsive, albeit quiet without a tactile response. It doesn’t have dedicated media keys, and most of the alternate functions can be accessed with the help of an FN key. All keys are illuminated with RGB LEDs – particularly the WASD keys with clear keycaps.
The touchpad measures 4.2 inches x 2.4 inches. It responds well to two-finger scrolling and zooming but you’ll want to use a dedicated mouse for gaming. One feature we like is the use of left/right buttons. Instead of using one piece for both touchpads and buttons, there are three separate components used here to make clearly defined buttons.
Gaming Performance
The Asus TUF Gaming F17 line is made of various configurations, but for this review, we have the FX707ZC-ES52 model with an Intel Core i5-12500H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage. These are previous-gen components, as we’ve seen gaming laptops like the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i with the latest 14th Gen Intel Core CPUs and up to RTX 4090 GPUs, but they are a bit pricey. For the budget hunters, the Core i5 and RTX 3050 chips will still deliver decent 1080p gameplay.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 is a mainstream GPU created for gaming laptops, that sits right below the RTX 3060 in the performance stack and is seemingly a refreshed upgrade over the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1650 laptop cards.
With the graduation from GTX into RTX designation, it means the RTX 3050 gets ray tracing and DLSS features, with the latter bringing a big boost into the mobile gaming segment. To put it into perspective, Metro Exodus (Ultra Settings, 1080p) averages 61fps, which is almost at par with the RTX 2060’s average frame rate of 58fps at the same settings.
In Horizon Zero Dawn played at maximum settings at 1080p, the RTX 3050 is pretty much faster than a comparable RTX 2060, delivering a solid 60 fps experience on the native laptop display. With that said, the performance is almost 18 frames behind the medium power configuration of the RTX 3060.
As configured, the FX707ZC-ES52 with an RTX 3050 graphics card faces competition from laptops rocking Nvidia’s line-up. The RTX 3060 GPU in the Acer Predator Helios 300 is much faster, offering ~35% more performance at the same 80W power level, or 50% more when the RTX 3060 is configured at its maximum 115W limit. That’s a much larger margin, considering that MSI GL66 (11UGK-001) RTX 3070 is only 20% ahead of the Helios 300’s RTX 3060 GPU.
The TUF Gaming F17’s battery life isn’t particularly disappointing, since expectations are always low for big-screen gaming laptops, but the four-and-a-half-hour runtime isn’t impressive either. We’ve seen worse, but you should plan on using this laptop for a long without your charger close, especially if you play games on battery power.
Should you buy the Asus TUF Gaming F17?
The main reason you should consider the Asus TUF Gaming F17 is for its price tag, beyond that, competitors are doing better. The laptop isn’t the most powerful, especially with that 12th gen processor and RTX 3050 graphics card, but for 1080p gaming it will do a fine job, provided you limit your expectations. The plastic chassis isn’t the best we’ve seen around, but the large, high-refresh screen is perhaps what a cash-strapped casual gamer might need.
There are way better alternatives if you can stretch your budget: the Asus TUF Gaming A17 and several Acer Nitro 17 offer better gaming performance and run modern components, but the Asus TUF Gaming F17 FX707ZC-ES52 is a fair big-screen value for those on tight budgets, especially if you can grab it on a sale.
Recommended Configuration
ASUS TUF Gaming F17 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 17.3” FHD 144Hz IPS-Level Display, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050, Intel® Core™ i5-12500H, 8GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe Gen3 SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FX707ZC-ES52
3 used from $815.99
The Review
Asus TUF Gaming F17
The Asus TUF Gaming F17 FX707ZC-ES52 is a 17.3-inch 144Hz screen, that delivers good 1080p gaming performance, making it ideal for casual gaming and light tasks.
PROS
- Large 144Hz IPS screen
- Affordable price
- Competent gaming performance
CONS
- Previous-generation CPU and GPU
- Short battery life
Review Breakdown
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ARS RATING
